The Liber Pontificalis is an invaluable historical document which catalogs the names and dates of the Pontiffs of Rome all the way back to St. Peter himself. Though of unknown authorship, its antiquity is well established. Modern scholarship has determined that the Liber was probably first compiled in the 6th century AD and continued piecemeal thereafter. This English edition, originally published in 1916, covers the Popes from St. Peter through Pelagius II, whose reign ended in AD 590. It includes biographies of many noteworthy Popes such as Clement I, Sylvester, Leo the Great, John I, and Silverius.
Though many of the earliest biographies are brief, devoid of detail and contain apocryphal anecdotes and spurious facts, the biographies of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries are considerably more fleshed-out and of much greater scholarly value as they are often the only source for certain important events.
This reprint of the 1916 translation of the Liber Pontificalis is heavily footnoted, and the translator, Louise Ropes Loomis, scrupulously indicated wherever the text is at odds with other available reliable data. She also incorporated commentary in the footnotes from Mommsen and Duchesne, two of the foremost 19th century scholars of the Liber. Furthermore, several manuscript traditions have been reproduced in parallel in this edition so that the reader may compare them side-by-side.
The 2006 edition includes 14 black & white illustrations from the lives of various Popes, as well as a short preface.
CHECK PRICE NOW!
Read Full Review >>
Best review for The Book of the Popes (Liber Pontificalis) (Christian Roman Empire Series)
